– found with knife stuck to throat, mouth stuffed with cloth
– 5-year-old son locked in room
An accountant of the CAMEX Restaurants Inc was on Wednesday morning found stabbed to death in the lower flat of her home at Lot 26 Unity, Mahaica, East Coast Demerara.
Murdered: Chooromanie Tulsi
The dead woman has been identified as 38-year-old Chooromanie Tulsi, a mother of one. Guyana Times understands that the woman had resided at the family house with her 5-year-old son. Her mother and brother are residing overseas.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the woman had last been seen alive at about 19:30h, when she collected her son from a family member in the same village. The gruesome discovery was made at about 8:00h on Wednesday in the lower flat of the house. She was found lying on the ground with a piece of cloth stuffed inside her mouth and a knife stuck to the centre of her throat. She was clad in a multi-coloured ‘night dress’ which was reportedly pulled up to reveal her body.
When contacted a sister, Chandrowatie Persaud, explained that Tulsi and her son used to stay in the upper flat of the house, but the woman would normally wake up between 4:00h and 4:30h to prepare her son’s snacks and lunch for school. The kitchen is in the lower flat of the house.
“After she was finished preparing his snacks, she would go back upstairs and wake him up…prepare him for school, and they would leave together at about 6:30h… She would then drop him off by her sister-in-law, and she would make her way to work… When she returns (in) the evening, she would collect him and they would go home together… That was the last time her sister-in-law saw her,” Persaud noted.
The sister pointing to the spot where the body was found
This sister further stated that after time had elapsed on Wednesday and the child had not been dropped off, the sister-in-law went to the house to check on them, since it was an unusual occurrence.
“When her sister-in-law reached the house, the door was locked from the outside, but the car was still parked in the yard; which means that she did not leave the house…the sister-in-law called several times but no answer…”
Thinking that something was amiss, the sister-in-law contacted the Police at the Mahaica Police Station and explained the situation. Upon arriving at the house, the Police reportedly ordered that the locks be broken to get access.
“When they break the lock and go in the house, she was lying on the ground next to the kitchen sink with a piece of red cloth stuck in her mouth and her face was partially covered… I see a knife, probably one of her kitchen knives, stuck to her neck in the throat area… her nightgown was pulled up,” the aggrieved sister added.
Persaud noted that the place was ransacked, but said she believes that her sister might have put up a fight against the perpetrator.
“Things scattered all over the place, but it had to be like when she was fighting off the persons, whatever her hand could have grabbed, she pulled… the only thing missing was the black handbag that she used for work… in this had her money, bank cards, ID cards and other documents… So, from that alone, we are convinced that it was not a robbery.”
The five-year-old son was subsequently found locked in his room.
The sister added that Tulsi would hardly be at home, and her neighbours are far apart. The neighbours stated that they did not see any unusual movement in the morning, and as such, the family believes that the woman might have been murdered in the wee hours.
Tulsi was described as a loving mother who took care of her child’s every need. The child’s father and Tulsi have separated for years. He now resides overseas.
Meanwhile, this publication understands that only recently a female security officer was attacked after leaving work one evening. After being attacked, she reportedly raised an alarm and the perpetrator made good his escape. At the time, the suspect was carrying a knife.
The matter was later reported to the Police.
